Happy 8th Birthday Zachie!!

Today is Zach's 8th birthday! Wow, it seems like just yesterday Ally was turning 8! Time really does fly!

We gave Zach one of his presents this morning (a new skateboard!) and he got to take cookies to school to celebrate his big day with his classmates. He has requested KFC for his birthday dinner tonight..yum, yum! :) He'll get the rest of his gifts and have his party on Sunday, at Adventure Landing. This will be the fourth year he has had his party there. It is a really cool place. They have games, laser tag, go karts, and miniature golf. The kids have a blast there and it is so cute watching them drive the little go karts.

We also have his boyscout pack's annual Blue and Gold Banquet this Saturday. The theme this year is Mardi Gras and the kids are allowed to dress up in costumes. They have good food, raffles, music, and a lot of fun to be had by all. It should be a great birthday weekend for Zach Attack!

Room Switch-a-roo!

Ally and Zach had separate rooms when I met them, but they ALWAYS slept together. When Zach was about 3.5, we re-did the largest room for both of them with bunk beds. They were inseparable in those days.

They've grown up (and apart) quite a bit since those days where we would walk in and find them cuddled up together. Ally has been begging for her own room for the past year or so. We told her once she turned 11, and Brady turned 3, we would move the boys together and she would get her own room. Her nana gave her money to buy stuff for her new room and we had it all picked out, but never gave Ally an "exact" date on when we would do her room.

One afternoon in early January, we told the kids we were having a date day and they went to my mom's house. We spent the whole day doing the room switch, touching up paint, and hanging Ally's new "purse" border. She chose lime green and hot pink for her room and everything she picked out is sooo cute! The room looked just perfect.

My mom said Ally started to get antsy toward the end of the day. "Are they STILL at the movies? What are they doing???!" We finally finished and texted my mom to bring the kiddos home. When they got home, I asked Ally to run upstairs to Brady's room to get his 'Tickle Me Cookie Monster' to show my mom. Brian was hiding out in the room, ready to take a picture. Well, it turns out that he scared her half to death with the flash! But, she was very surprised and VERY happy. She busted into tears and thanked us profusely! She absolutely loved her new room!

Brady wasn't quite as happy about it. It took him a few days to adjust to the fact that room wasn't his anymore. He never got upset about the fact that Ally was in his room, I think it just confused him a little. What made it worse, was that we gave Ally the top bunk mattress so there wasn't a mattress on the top bunk for the first few weeks. Brady does NOT like to share his bed. We finally got Ally's bed frame and mattress last week. Brady promptly told Zach to "get in his own bed." Zach would really prefer to sleep with Brady, but he gave in and started sleeping in the top bunk. He likes it now. Brady is happy as a lark spreading out in his own bed and not having to share it anymore. Ally has asked him a few times if she can sleep with him and he says "No, Ally. You sleep in your own bed!!" He's little mister independent!

Ally is loving having her own room and now has posters all over her walls (much to my dismay..lol). She even spends time alone in her room on occasion, which she would have never done before. I think we finally have gotten the boys to stay out of her room for the most part as well.

Our next step is to re-do the boys' room. We had planned on doing that the same weekend as Ally's, but didn't have enough time. The walls are currently blue and red, with an alphabet border. We are planning to paint the walls light beige, and we have purchased a super cute "sports theme" border and throw pillows. Once that room is completed, we will have nothing else to renovate hopefully until we move into a bigger house one day.

SURPRISE!

Crying from joy. ANGEL HEART!

Brady taking over Ally's new bedAlly let Brady sleep in her bed the first night. Awww. He won't return the favor, however! lol

Ally's new room, before she smothered it in posters and clutter! :)

Brady and Zach's first night sharing a room (and a bed!) Aren't they beautiful?!

**Disclaimer**the room switcharoo was completed in early January 2009, but due to a new job, this is my first chance to blog about it. :)

Valentine's Day

Well, since I missed Christmas and New Year's, I don't imagine anyone will mind that my V-day post is 11 days late. :)

When I was a little girl, my mom always made sure that we had something special for us on the table on all holidays, including Valentine's Day. Some of my best childhood memories are waking up to presents on the kitchen table!! I ended up being a lot like her, and am always trying to decorate or celebrate something! I know a lot of people dislike Valentine's Day and think it is an over-rated Hallmark manufactured holiday. I think any day that is to celebrate love and gives us all something to look forward to, can't be that bad. I love all holidays, and Valentine's day is no exception!

I bought the kids all stuffed Valentines's Day toys, tons of candy, and heart shaped donuts. I stayed up late the night before Friday decorating the table. Since they were having parties at school that day, I decided we would celebrate V-day on Friday as well. I usually drop some sort of hint, but this year, I didn't give them any idea that they had any surprises. I love surprises and I really love to see my kids beaming with joy. I was probably more excited than they were.

I went downstairs Friday morning and called them down there, and was able to catch their surprise on video. They were all very happy with their little presents and chowed down on the heart shaped donuts. After we let them consume some sugar, off to school they went. :)

I took Friday off, and had planned to get my hair done and to attend Zach and Ally's Valentine's parties at school. Just as I was getting ready to walk out the door for my hair appointment, Brady's school called and said he threw up three times and I had to come get him. I called Ally and Zach's school right away and told them to send a message to their teacher so they wouldn't be disappointed when I didn't show up for the party.

Brady never got sick again, although he did sleep for 3 hours. I went to pick up the kids after school and unfortunately, they never got the message and Ally cried during her party. I guess next time I'll call the school AND email the teacher. All in all, they had a great day though.

On Saturday, the kids' nana watched them while Brian and I went out on a date. We went to the Studio Movie Grill and saw the movie "He's just not that into you." We both loved the movie and the food. It was a great date! We took pictures before our date in a new black dress I bought just for the occasion. The funny part of that is, I ended up wearing jeans. I'm so cold natured and it was entirely too cold that day to wear that cute little dress outside the house. At least we got pictures. :)

Pinewood Derby

Last year was our first year to participate in the Pinewood Derby. Brian took Zach to the wood workshop and then I helped him design it. In my naivety, I had no idea that all the cars weren't shaped like triangles. I thought that was the purpose of the wood workshop, to sand them from rectangles to triangles, as well as put the weights on the cars. Since I stayed up half the night painting his car, I didn't attend the Pinewood derby last year either (to see that all the cars weren't triangles). This year, I was on top of my game and googled cars, and to my surprise, some of them actually looked like cars! Had I known that, I would have never so proudly posted this last year. I really thought Zach's car looked great!! It would appear that it must have won "Most Patriotic" due to the fact it was the only Patriotic car. ha ha

Brian did a great job carving the car this year. He stepped outside the "box" or shall I say "triangle." We still didn't have much of an idea of what category we would strive to win. We went shopping at Hobby Lobby and found a Batman kit. I wasn't sure if the fenders and such would fit, because our car wasn't shaped exactly like the model. But, most of it ended up fitting and we improvised where necessary. Initially, Brian thought the plastic add-ons were going to look silly on the car. Once it was all painted and the decals were on, it looked great. We were all very impressed with the Batmobile!

One the day of the derby, we sat the Batmobile on the table and took our seats. A few minutes later, Zach, Brady, and I walked up to the table to look at all the cars. Everyone was talking about how cool the Batmobile was. Zach was so proud. :) I personally thought it was the best looking car there. However, it definitely wasn't the fastest! Clearly, we were going for looks rather than speed. Zach's car didn't come in last, but he definitely wasn't first either. Brian has big plans on the weight placement for next year to make the car go faster.

After the races, the winners are announced for the "looks" categories. Zach won "Most futuristic!" We spoke to one of the judges and he said that Zach's car was nominated to win in three categories, but since you can only win one category, they just had to pick. Zach was really glad to have another trophy for his shelf.